Guitar Pictures

Tag: DIY guitar setup

End Fret Buzz: Pinpoint Problem Frets with the Fret Rocker
That frustrating, tell-tale buzz. You know the sound.

Whether it’s an open string ringing sour or a note dying out on the fretboard, persistent fret buzz is a common plague for guitarists. It ruins tone, compromises playability, and can drive even the most patient musician to distraction.

The main culprits are almost always frets that are either too high or too low. Pinpointing the exact offender, however, can feel like a game of whack-a-mole. You could end up chasing your tail, taking material off one fret only to find the next one is now wrong. It would be a nightmare pursuit trying to guess and play around with it.

For the serious hobbyist aiming for professional results, precision matters. This guide introduces the Fret Rocker, an essential tool for accurately diagnosing fret issues, and arms you with the knowledge to silence that buzz for good. You’ll gain the confidence that your guitar will play properly, and you can’t blame it for your bad playing!

🎦 The Master’s Approach: Dan Erlewine and the Fret Rocker

When it comes to essential guitar setup and repair, Dan Erlewine from StewMac is the master. In this video, he demonstrates his “Fret Rocker,” an ingenious tool designed to quickly identify problematic frets.

Watch as he shows you the simple yet effective method for pinpointing the source of fret buzz.

✨ Engineered for Precision: What Makes the Fret Rocker Essential

The Fret Rocker is a small, precision-ground straight edge specifically designed to quickly pinpoint high or low frets. Its method of use is deceptively simple: you span three frets at a time. If the tool rocks, you’ve found a problem area. But its true genius lies in its engineering:
- Multiple Lengths: The Fret Rocker comes in short, medium, and long lengths, allowing it to accurately span three frets anywhere on the neck – from the narrowest spots near the nut to the wider areas over the body.
- Unmatched Accuracy: These lengths are precision-ground to within **1 and a half thousandths of an inch**. This extreme accuracy is what separates it from improvised tools, ensuring your diagnosis is reliable.
- Diagnostic Power: When the tool rocks, it indicates a problem with one of the three frets it spans. As Dan notes, “the chances are 50:50 each way” that it’s either a high fret or a low fret *next to* the point of contact. This precision tells you *where* to investigate further, rather than just guessing.
This tool is so reliable it’s used on valuable instruments, including vintage guitars like the 1959 Gibson ES-125T (as seen in the video). This communicates a clear message: if it’s good enough for an expensive, valuable, historic guitar, it’s certainly reliable for yours.

💰 Precision vs. Penny-Pinching: The Fret Rocker’s True Value

Many hobbyists consider alternatives like credit cards or homemade metal straight edges to check for high frets. While these DIY methods might offer a quick, low-cost starting point, they come with significant risks.

A homemade tool could be out of tolerance, not perfectly flat, or could even introduce inaccuracies if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. This can lead to inaccurate measurements and sloppy fret work, wasting your time and potentially damaging your instrument.

For the serious hobbyist who values their time and strives for professional results, investing in a high-quality, purpose-built tool like the StewMac Fret Rocker is a “buy once, cry once” decision. It guarantees precision and consistency, eliminating guesswork and significantly reducing the risk of errors. The confidence you gain from knowing your diagnostic tool is perfectly accurate is invaluable.

Ensure your fretwork starts with precision: StewMac Fret Rocker (Amazon).

🔧 Beyond Detection: Your Next Steps to a Buzz-Free Neck

Identifying a problem fret with the Fret Rocker is the crucial first step. To completely eliminate the buzz, you’ll need to follow up with a few more precise operations:
1. Leveling:
  The identified high or low fret (or frets) needs to be carefully leveled to match the height of its neighbors. This often involves a precision filing tool.
2. Crowning (Reshaping):
  Once the fret is level, it must be reshaped to its proper “crown” profile. This is vital for proper intonation and preventing string contact across too wide an area. A specialized crowning file is essential for this. We recommend the StewMac Compact Z-File Guitar Fret Crowning File (Amazon) for its efficiency.
3. Polishing:
  Finally, the frets must be polished to a smooth, mirror-like shine. This removes any file marks and ensures effortless string bending and vibrato. Always use fret protection like the StewMac Fingerboard Guards (Amazon) to protect your fretboard during these steps.
🏆 The Payoff: Play with Confidence, Craft with Precision

Eliminating fret buzz transforms your playing experience, allowing your guitar to truly sing. The Fret Rocker empowers you to diagnose problems with absolute confidence, setting the stage for precise, effective repairs. The satisfaction of doing this work yourself, knowing your guitar plays perfectly because of your own accurate efforts, is immeasurable. It’s a testament to your mastery and dedication as a craftsman.

What’s your most stubborn fret buzz story, and how did you finally silence it? Share your experience below.
July 11, 2025
A Luthier’s Only Vise
If you’re currently using a clunky, old woodworking vise with foam pads taped to the jaws to hold your precious guitar—stop.

Just stop. That improvised setup, that slight wobble you try to ignore, that nagging fear in the back of your mind every time you apply pressure is the single biggest unaddressed risk in your workshop. You’re one slip away from a damaged finish, a cracked neck, or worse. As a fellow serious hobbyist, I believe some tools aren’t just purchases; they are foundational decisions. A proper vise isn’t about convenience; it’s the heart of your workbench, the trusted hands that hold your instrument while you perform surgery. The goal is to build a setup so reliable that you can remove all doubt and focus entirely on your craft, knowing with certainty that the tool will not fail you.

🎦 The Master’s Viewpoint

To understand the professional standard, we look to the master, Dan Erlewine. In this video, he walks through why a specialized vise is so central to his workflow. It’s not just a holding device; it’s an enabling tool that makes complex jobs possible. His insights set the benchmark for why this tool is different.

🛠️ The Cornerstone Investment: Why This Vise is Essential

This isn’t just a vise; it’s a purpose-built system for lutherie. I can say with full certainty this is a cornerstone tool, because its design solves the exact problems guitar work presents. Three features make it non-negotiable for holding tapered, irregular shapes:
1. Independent Swiveling Jaws.
  They can tilt and adjust side-to-side, allowing them to perfectly match the tapered angle of a guitar neck without slipping.
2. 360-Degree Jaw Rotation.
  Each jaw can be completely spun around and then locked, letting you find the absolute perfect grip for any job, from fretwork to body routing.
3. Frictionless Operation.
  A custom roller bearing ensures the vise glides open and shut smoothly, while the removable hand crank means it never snags your clothes or gets in the way during a delicate task.
Ultimately, it’s about absolute trust. Users describe it as a “game changer,” and after experiencing that rock-solid stability, you’ll understand why it’s worth every penny. This is the one you buy once. Find the latest version, which now includes protective neck inserts, here: StewMac Guitar Repair Vise (Amazon).

💰 Price vs. The Lifetime Promise

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the price. It’s a serious investment. You can find other “pattern maker” vises, some for slightly less. But here’s the crucial distinction: you’re not just buying a piece of steel, you’re investing in the StewMac ecosystem. If you wait for one of their frequent sales, you can get a great discount. But more importantly, if you ever have an issue, they will look after you. Their lifetime guarantee isn’t a marketing slogan; it’s an operational promise. That peace of mind, knowing the company stands behind the most critical tool on your bench, makes the upfront cost a long-term bargain.

✅ The Pro’s Tradecraft: Two Details for Perfect Use

Owning a pro tool is the first step; using it like a pro is the next. Here are two pieces of “insider knowledge” that make a difference.
1. The Safety Net Rule.
  Any pro will tell you that a moment of carelessness can lead to disaster. The biggest risk is loosening the jaws before you have a new grip, causing the neck to drop onto the vise’s metal rails. While the new version of this vise commendably includes foam “Neck Protectors,” you can add a “belt-and-suspenders” safety net with a simple, folded microfiber cloth draped underneath. It’s a zero-cost piece of tradecraft that provides total peace of mind.
2. The Mounting Choice.
  The vise offers two mounting heights depending on whether you install it on top of or under your workbench (for an 8″ or 9-3/4″ height). Take a moment to consider your primary working stance—sitting or standing—and choose the height that minimizes strain on your back during long sessions.
🏆 The Payoff: The Sound of Silence

The true prize of owning this vise isn’t what it does, but what it stops. It stops the doubt. It silences the fear. It eliminates the risk of your improvised setup failing at the worst possible moment. Plug in your guitar, and it sounds the same. But work on it, and the confidence you feel is a new kind of music. You achieved a professional result because you invested in a professional foundation.

The workbench isn’t complete until the right vise is bolted to it. Do you agree that this is the first cornerstone of any serious workshop? Join the discussion below.
July 8, 2025
Master Your Guitar’s String Spacing with Pro Precision
You’ve replaced your worn-out nut, the string height is dialed in, but something still feels off.

Photo: Martin Hesketh from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Perhaps your bass strings feel cramped, your fingers stumbling over each other on chords, or certain single-note runs feel surprisingly awkward. The real problem? Inaccurate string spacing. It’s a subtle but critical detail often overlooked in DIY setups, leading to what pros call “crowded bass strings” and that nagging feeling that your guitar isn’t playing as comfortably or “fast” as it could be. Look, as dedicated builders and serious hobbyists, our time and the quality of our work are everything. Sure, a master luthier can probably eyeball perfect proportional spacing after decades on the bench, but you shouldn’t have to. The path to doing more, quicker, and constantly improving applies here too. As I always say, I’m no pro, but I want pro tools so with my limited skills, I know at least the tools aren’t holding me back. True mastery is often about leveraging the right tools to get pro-level results **without the tedious repetition of trial and error.**

📐 Pro String Spacing? Here’s How Dan Erlewine Simplifies It

When it comes to string spacing, Dan Erlewine from StewMac is basically *the* guy. In this essential video, he walks through his proven method for getting perfectly aligned strings on a new bone nut. Sure, the know-how behind it took him years to nail, but he’s got it down to an art that’s now surprisingly straightforward for us to follow.

📏 The Game-Changer: The StewMac String Spacing Rule

For us, who aren’t trying to spend years developing Dan’s exact knack for eyeballing it, there’s a game-changing piece of gear. His accumulated mastery? It’s been built right into the StewMac String Spacing Rule (Amazon). This isn’t just any old rule; it automatically handles different string thicknesses. Unlike those basic methods that just put strings equal distance from center-to-center (which almost always gives you those frustratingly ‘crowded bass strings’), this rule has Dan’s proportional spacing baked right in. It means your strings will feel just right under your fingers – making complex chords and fast runs smooth and effortless. Honestly, it transforms a good setup into a genuinely professional-feeling instrument, quick as a flash.

🧰 Before You Start: The Nut Blank & Essential Tools

Before you even grab the spacing rule, you’ll need your materials and tools lined up. For the best tone and classic feel, we always lean towards a quality bone nut blank. This StewMac Unbleached Bone Nut Blank for Fender (Amazon) is a great place to start. Just a heads up, bone can be a bit ‘slippery,’ so being super precise when you mark your slots is key. The rule helps with the layout, but when it comes to cutting those perfect, binding-free slots—the ones that truly make a difference—you really can’t skip on quality files. The StewMac Gauged Nut Slotting File Set for Electric Guitar, for Medium Strings (Amazon) are basically designed to eliminate guesswork, giving you clean, accurate slots that are crucial for a truly great setup.

📝 Beyond the Tool: Nailing the Full Pro Process

While the String Spacing Rule makes a massive difference, getting truly perfect results still means following a careful process:
1. Set Your Boundaries First:
  This is critical. Get your high and low E strings on the nut with just enough tension to keep them in place. Nudge each one carefully so it’s sitting about 1/16th of an inch in from the fretboard edge. This is what keeps your strings from flying off while you play! Once they’re exactly where you want them, make a small mark and nick these points with a sharp file. That defines your overall string width.
2. Let the Rule Work Its Magic:
  With those outer marks in place, grab your String Spacing Rule. Line it up against your nut blank and slide it until the rule’s six pre-marked spots line up perfectly with your outside E string marks. Suddenly, the rule tells you exactly where your inner four string slots need to go. No more guessing, no more complicated math.
3. Mark with Precision:
  Dan’s got a couple of ways he likes to do this. You can simply “pencil in the other marks” right onto the bone through the rule’s slots, or if you’re feeling keen, you can directly “scribe the marks into the bone through these slots” with a sharp scribing tool. Either way, you’re transferring that perfect proportional spacing straight onto your nut, ready for filing.
4. File Carefully:
  Now for the cutting. Using your precision nut slotting files, gently work each slot down to the right depth at those newly marked points. Remember, bone is notoriously slippery, so take your time and file slowly and deliberately. This is where you keep your spacing spot-on and avoid any nasty slips.
✨ The Payoff: Effortless Playability & That ‘Pro’ Feeling

Plug in, fret a chord, run a scale. The difference in feel is huge. Those strings will just fall perfectly under your fingers, chords will sound more open, and suddenly those complex licks feel super fluid. That satisfying feeling—of everything just *working* perfectly—is what happens when you nail details like proportional string spacing. It really does make you feel like a next-level pro in your craft. You’re taking a master’s insights, using the right tools, and seriously elevating your own work, producing a result you can genuinely sleep at night knowing is absolutely spot-on.

The line between ‘correct’ and ‘comfortable’ string spacing is personal. What method or discovery made it finally feel right for you? Join the conversation below.
July 7, 2025
Is Your Guitar Nut the Bottleneck to Perfect Tone?
You look down at your guitar’s nut and it’s a chaotic landscape.

Photo: TorrentFox at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

The low E string swims side-to-side in its slot while the G-string binds and pings when you tune. Even worse, the high E has worn down so far it’s buzzing open against the first fret, killing notes completely. This isn’t just sloppy—it’s the physical bottleneck holding back your guitar from its true potential. The hard truth is that the stock nut on most guitars is compromising your tone, feel, and tuning stability. I’m not a professional luthier, and maybe you aren’t either. But I believe that we, the serious hobbyists, can achieve results that even pros would respect. The key is to follow a proven process and use the right tools—removing our own limited skill as a variable. This guide is the result of obsessive research, designed to be a blueprint for a professional-level upgrade, even for those of us still on the journey.

📚 The Masterclass: Dan Erlewine Shows the Way

Your time is your most valuable asset. So instead of reinventing the wheel, we’re going to look to a master for the solution. Dan Erlewine from StewMac walks through the essential technique for fitting a preshaped nut in this video. This is the fix. The principles he teaches are universal, authoritative, and the key to getting this job done right.

🛠️ The Real Investment: Ensuring the Tools Aren’t Holding You Back

As you saw, a pre-slotted nut gets you 90% of the way there, but perfecting that last 10%—filing the slots to the perfect depth—is what separates a good job from a great one. This is where a “buy once, cry once” investment is non-negotiable. I want pro tools so I know, with absolute certainty, that with my limited skill, at least the tools aren’t holding me back. The heart of any professional setup is a set of precision-gauged files. Investing in the StewMac Gauged Nut Slotting File Set for Electric Guitar, for Medium Strings – Set of 6 (Amazon) is an investment in certainty. These files are engineered to match specific string sizes, removing the guesswork and ensuring a clean, binding-free slot every time. It’s the difference between a hack job and a professional result.

To apply Dan’s flawless technique to the best available component, our recommendation is the StewMac Slotted Unbleached Bone Nut, for Fender (Amazon).

✅ The Professional’s Playbook: Four Details to Adopt for a Flawless Job

With the right component and the right tools, the final step is to adopt the process of a professional. These are the details that matter.
1. Protect the Investment First.
  Before a single file touches the guitar, a pro protects the finish. The method is a two-tape system: first, a layer of low-tack drafting tape directly on the finish, followed by a heavier-duty tape over it. Thank God for details like this—it can save an original finish from a disastrous slip.
2. Use the Fretboard as the Jig.
  To ensure the nut’s bottom perfectly matches the fretboard radius, we can use Dan Erlewine’s elegant trick. Stick a piece of 80- or 120-grit sandpaper directly onto the fretboard (between the nut and the tuners) and gently sand the bottom of the nut against it. The fretboard itself becomes the perfect template.
3. Think Like a Repairman, Not an Assembler.
  Most of us have reached for super glue. A pro thinks differently. The goal is a firm connection that is also serviceable. A few drops of shellac are all you need. It provides a solid bond but “will come apart easier if you want to take it out later.”
4. Calibrate the System.
  Use a precision gauge like the StewMac String Action Gauge (Amazon) to perform the final and most critical step: the “balancing act.” The string height at the nut must work in harmony with the string radius at the bridge. This holistic view is the key to a setup that feels right across the entire neck.
✨ The Payoff: The Sound of a Job Done Right

Plug it in. Strum a chord. The sound is clearer, the sustain is richer. The feel is consistent. But the real prize is the profound satisfaction of knowing you did it. You, the dedicated enthusiast, achieved a professional result because you followed a professional process.

Every luthier has a story about a stubborn guitar nut. What’s yours? Join the discussion below.
July 7, 2025